New UAE broker regulations become law

Analysis

In May 2012, the UAE Insurance Authority (the Authority), produced proposals for the revision of the 2006 Insurance Broking Regulations (the 2006 Regulations). A number of commentators had previously remarked that this area of law, and the law on the distribution of insurance products generally, was in sore need of revision to reflect developments in areas like on-line marketing, bancassurance and changing retail distribution patterns. There was some disappointment that the draft did not tackle most of these areas. Following consultation over the draft, in October of last year the Authority issued the revised regulations (the Regulations) in their final form and they are now law. What changes have been made from the earlier draft, and how far will the Regulations change the insurance and reinsurance landscape here?

No dramatic surprises

The short answer to that question is that the revised text does bear evidence of lobbying by industry interests (most likely established ones), and detail has changed, but its overall scope and approach are mainly unchanged. The changes to the 2006 Regulations come mainly in tougher entry requirements which make life difficult for the mass of smaller UAE brokers.